Strange Noises
by McNerdybird
Summary: Teddy wakes up late at night and hears some strange noises. The toddler was determined to investigate.


**2002**

For some reason unknown to him, Teddy awoke and rubbed his eyes sleepily. He was tired and didn't want to wake up. _So why did he?_ His small eyes glanced tiredly at the windows, which appeared, behind the light blue curtains, to be covered in a blanket of unpenetrable darkness; that meant it must be night time. Teddy knew he wasn't allowed out of bed at night, and didn't want to risk angering his Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry; especially Aunt Ginny, who could be a lot sterner than Uncle Harry. But he loved them both and didn't want to disappoint them by disobeying the rules. Teddy was visiting the young couple in their two-bedroom flat, as he did every weekend, to give his Grandmother a break, or at least that's what he heard her say.

Teddy lay his currently blonde head back on his blue, dragon-decorated pillow and attempted to go to sleep. At least as well as a four-year old can. He quickly became bored with his lonely attempt and opened his eyes again, fixating suddenly on the door that was ever so slightly left ajar. A crack of light spilled temptingly into his room, and seemed to attract his gaze, which was usually so easily distracted. _What was beyond that door? Was the flat different at night?_ He'd never been allowed to find out. He swiftly swung his little legs out from under his similarly dragon-decorated covers and dropped to the carpeted floor with a soft thud. His bare feet felt nice against the carpet and the night air was cool on his bare skin, where his deep blue pyjamas didn't cover him. Teddy tiptoed over to his door, past the legions of loyal toys and grabbed the wooden handle with a small hand. As he pulled the door open a little more, it squeaked and Teddy winced instinctively.

 _Uh oh_. _What if he woke up his godparents and made them angry? What if they took away his toys?_ Teddy didn't think he could live without Buckbeak the Griffin doll, who Teddy looked at, snuggled on his bed, for inspiration. He envied the doll, hidden warmly under his covers, who never had to make these sorts of potentially life-altering decisions. Teddy made his choice; if he was going to be in Gryffindor like his Uncle Harry, he would have to be brave. After all, there were plenty of stories of Harry sneaking around Hogwarts at night, so Teddy would be like his hero.

Teddy breathed in quietly and opened the door just enough for his slim body to slip through and then heard the noise that must have caused him to wake up: "Oh Harry!" It sounded like his Aunt Ginny, but it sounded like she was being tickled. Sure enough, Teddy heard giggling. The three of them often spent a lot of time tickling each other in the garden, and Teddy remembered these moments fondly. He was glad they were having fun but felt sad that they weren't including him, Teddy.

He walked out into the main room of the clumsily-decorated flat, where evidence of hurried tidying was clear; the cupboards had things haphazardly packed in, and once a box full of Quidditch magazines had emptied over his head when he'd opened one. A table lamp gave out the soft light that Teddy had seen in his room. The door that led to outside the flat stood menacingly, like a foreboding giant, and Teddy made sure to stay well clear of it. Most likely, there were monsters out there, waiting to eat him if he came out. The clock ticked ominously and sent shivers down his spine. Teddy wanted to run back and hide under his covers, but he had to be brave. For Harry, for Ginny, for Buckbeak. He was just searching for the TV remote when another sound punctured the quiet.

"Oh Ginny!" he heard the voice of Harry say. Teddy had never heard Harry sound like that before. His curiosity piqued, Teddy toddled over to the door he knew led to his godparents' bedroom. "Oh yeah," Ginny then cried, as Teddy edged closer. Lots more laughter and giggling ensued, shortly followed by what sounded like bed springs creaking heavily and rapidly. A faint glow of light emanated from the gap at the bottom of the door. "You're in for it now, Gin."

"Oh yeah, come and try. Faster, Harry, faster!"

Teddy put his hand on the door handle and turned. The door opened and Teddy stared into the room, his eyes wide as saucers. He was met with a sight he had never seen before.

There were his beloved godparents on their large, Gryffindor-red bed and they were playing _Teddy's_ Muggle video games. _His_ games _!_ A large TV opposite the end of their bed was flashing periodically with one of the games that they had bought for Teddy, casting the room in an eerie light, as Teddy spotted Ginny bouncing excitedly on her knees, making the bed springs creak. "Yes, in your face Potter!" She cackled as she clicked a controller madly.

"You're a Potter too," Harry mumbled in defeat, dropping a remote controller onto the bed.

Teddy was nonplussed; _why would they play his games without him?_ "Hey!" he whined. Harry and Ginny's heads snapped round, as if caught in a naughty act, to see the toddler standing in the doorway. "Sorry Teddy, did we wake you up?" Ginny apologized softly. Teddy nodded eagerly as Harry lifted him up and placed him comfortably on his lap. "Here," he said, handing him the remote controller. "Let's see if you have any better luck at beating Ginny. I'm struggling."

Harry ruffled his godson's ever changing hair affectionately as they started to play. Teddy was steadily falling asleep in his arms, and his last conscious thought before the void of sleep overtook him was that he must remember to listen out for strange noises in his godparents bedroom when they thought he was asleep; then they might play video games again.


End file.
